Terminology Question...

As I understand it, a complete stamped envelope is called a "cover," and a corner section of an envelope showing a canceled stamp is called a "piece."

I recently bought an item on ebay, not realizing that it consisted of canceled stamps on what is the front (and flap) of the original envelope. I would hesitate to call it a cover, as it is not a complete envelope, and would equally hesitate to call it a piece, as it consists of the complete front side of the envelope.

What might this item be properly called?

Cordially...

'Front'

Front - The front of a cover with most or all of the back and side panels torn away or removed. Fronts, while desirable if they bear unusual or uncommon postal markings, are less desirable than an intact cover.

Don

Hi. Another message to take here is read seller descriptions very carefully. First you have to learn the terminology, as you are, but then make sure to read every word carefully. If you read a description quickly its easy to overlook words like : front, piece, etc.

Some sellers who put out catalogs are very conscious of saving catalog space, so they'll abbreviate descriptions as much as possible to save space and money.

51studebaker: Thanks for the informative reply. At least now I'll know what to call this thing (and what to look out for in descriptions).

Cordially...

txstamp: You make a very good point. Fortunately, in this case, the price I paid for this "front" was quite reasonable.

Cordially...

I think the correct term/description will be "front only".

Many such Indian Feudatory States items with stamps which are rare on covers are described as that in auctions.

Keep in mind that there is every level of expertise of seller on ebay ranging from those who barely know what a postage stamp is to those who expertise rare and tricky items. And those are the fully honest ones - there are also those who are less than honest and who leave out important details to help their sales. One cannot rely on written descriptions without also looking closely at the photos that accompany them to see what is actually being sold. For postal history, any auction that does not include at least one well focused photo of the entire front and another well focused photo of the entire back should be treated as suspect and the potential bidder needs to contact the seller and ask for such photos. Ideally, for anything over a couple of dollars the potential bidder should also insist on clear and well focused close up photos of anything important such as the stamps, cancels, supplemental markings and receiving marks.

For a great many more advanced collectors of postal history, anything less than a complete envelope or post card is undesirable unless that is the way most all such items are found such as in some of the old Indian Feudal States that was mentioned. For such collectors, the difference among terms such as front, partial, piece, cut corner, etc. does not really matter much. You should definitely collect what you like and not care about the way others collect unless you have plans to one day sell your collection where you will find the market for anything less than the complete cover or card will be at best small fraction of what complete ones are.

Joy: Thanks for the clarification.

Cordially...

Kimo: Good advice. I generally allow myself to be guided by what I like, but there always seems to be a little voice in the back in my head, that whispers "investment."

Cordially...